Online Reporter
Obert Chifamba
Agri-Insight
THE upcoming 2025/26 agricultural season stands at the crossroads of opportunity and challenge.
And, with forecasts indicating variable rainfall patterns, it is crucial for stakeholders to prioritise the expeditious distribution of inputs, embrace crop diversification, and adhere to agro-ecological zoning to secure food security and economic stability.
Essentially, this is only achievable through timely and strategic planning guided by the strong understanding that the success of any season starts with the proper preparations.
Weather experts play their part by disseminating information on how the season will pan out.
After the seasonal forecast is issued, the stage will be ready for all stakeholders to demonstrate their understanding of what the forecast entails and how they should prepare.
These preparations effectively start with the choice of inputs to be sourced for use and the crop options that the farmer will adopt depending on where they are situated geographically.
In most cases, it is the farmer plying her trade on dry land who needs to play the balancing act to ensure they absorb whatever is thrown at them and come out mildly scathed or even unscathed.
In our case, the 2025/26 seasonal forecast points towards a season characterised by an erratic start with dry conditions in October and November, followed by improved rainfall in December. Normal to above-normal rainfall is expected for the core season (December-February), particularly in southern and western regions, but northern areas may experience drier conditions again in January-March.
On the one hand, temperatures will be warmer than average this month and November, with a cooler December with farmers encouraged to delay planting and prepare for a mix of potential droughts and floods.
This is the ammunition the farmer needs to effectively plan for the forthcoming season.
The kind of preparations will not be of a one-size-fits-all style, but will lean heavily on the agro-ecological region a farmer is situated in. This will dictate the kind of preparations every farmer on dry land had to make.
It is exciting to note that Government has started moving inputs to various regions across the country some time ago to ensure that farmers access them in time. This, in fact, is a clear demonstration of the need to always be ready for the new season.
In recent seasons, there have been cases of inputs getting to farmers late, which was compromising potential yields as planting would start late when farmers should have benefited from the abundant heat units that are associated with the first half of the season.
It is important for those tasked with distributing the inputs to various places around the country to play their part expeditiously so that farmers are able to hit the ground running once they have the first meaningful rains signalling the start of the season.
There are also those farmers who do dry planting and wait for the rains to set in and nurture their plants — they need to have the inputs way ahead of the onset of the rains.
It does not require rocket science for anyone to appreciate that early distribution allows farmers to prepare their fields and plant crops within the optimal window.
This is particularly important given the prediction of normal to above-normal rains, which may encourage earlier planting. Mitigation of risks associated with delayed rains always starts with securing inputs in time.
This allows farmers to act promptly when conditions improve, thereby reducing the risk of crop failure.
Furthermore, this allows farmers to access quality seed, fertilisers, and other inputs, which is a key ingredient in the push to maximise yields thereby boosting food security and incomes. This feeds into the national drive to treat every agricultural activity as a business that is expected to contribute towards uplifting families’ socio-economic situation.
This aside, it is also important for farmers to take crop diversification seriously, especially during difficult seasons like the ones currently being experienced. Crop diversification is credited with mitigation of risks associated with climate variability.
Relying on a single crop makes farmers vulnerable to pests, diseases, and changing weather patterns.
Embracing different crop options always makes it possible for the farmer to at least salvage some yields from those that fare better than the others when it comes to adverse weather conditions that ordinarily affect crop productivity.
Different crops can also improve soil nutrients and structure, leading to better long-term productivity and sustainability.
The other very important observation is that growing a variety of crops can open new markets and increase resilience against price fluctuations in single commodities. If one crop performs badly on the market, chances are there may be another one that fares better, therefore cushioning the farmer from total loss of revenue or even food security.
Of course, there are also non-food but cash-crops that farmers can grow and use proceeds to buy grain for food. Such crops must also be included in the crop basket that farmers adopt in their crop diversification strategies. It is actually very healthy for farmers to include such crops in their list of options.
This is not an attempt to discourage farmers from producing more food crops in line with the push to boost food security but to encourage them to make the most of what their different agro-ecological zones can produce competitively. If it means they can produce tobacco or cotton better than food crops, then it only makes sense for them to make sure they produce those crops to their utmost best.
A farmer who has a good income cannot suffer from food insecurity, as he can always buy from those that had better harvests of food crops. It is a fact that such farmers will also be contributing towards ensuring that the wheels of the economy can turn when they sell produce that oils industrial activity and also generate foreign currency upon being exported.
This brings in the last point that I want to make in this analysis. The issue of agro-ecological zoning. This is critical for many reasons that some farmers do not always readily appreciate, yet they are very important. It is obvious that different zones have specific climatic and soil conditions that require farmers to select crops suited to such environments, thereby enhancing growth and yields.
The mere act of following zoning regulations helps in maintaining biodiversity and preventing land degradation, which is crucial for sustainable agriculture.
Complying with zoning requirements enables better resource allocation and targeted agricultural policies, which improves overall efficiency of the agriculture sector.
Whatever stakeholders in the agriculture sector do, they must always remember that by synchronising all the efforts discussed in this analysis with the expected rainfall patterns, farmers can maximise their potential for a successful season.
